Culinary & Wine Tasting Tour & Trip Reviews

Recently returned from a Viking Rhine trip on 10/14.
The good:
Rhine water levels were good, no issues. Service on the vessel was A+, excluding one attendant with “attitude” at the front desk. Entertainment was low key but acceptable. Viking succeeds in creating a laid back atmosphere. Viking is like a clock - they run on time. Cabin was nice and shower was exceptional. Most (not all) tours were informative, guides ranged from good to excellent. Tour buses were top shelf with experienced drivers.
The not so good:
All 6 in our group were disappointed with the food (not service but food) all week excluding breakfast. All felt the food offerings got “old” real fast. Food appeared to be prepared in advance and then reheated. Plenty of TV movies, tv and internet reception poor all week.
Most concerning
Viking, customs, and airline never asked to see our proof of vaccination. While Viking did a excellent job in keeping the boat itself clean and sanitized we had an issue on one of the bus tours. A unmasked woman sitting directly behind my wife was sweating & coughing non-stop. Not a occasional sneeze or cough, it was obvious this woman was ill. At the first stop multiple riders relocated to seats as far away from this individual as possible. Regrettably, Viking said/did noting.
Viking claims they are not the Covid police and if we felt compromised we should have put on a mask. Absolutely ridiculous that Viking felt we should have masked but took action to pull this woman aside, require her to mask with a suggestion to see a physician. Again - we’re not talking about normal coughing and sneezing- this woman was visibly ill. Viking was willing to put 30 travelers at risk rather then ask a visibly ill woman to mask up. It’s Vikings boat, tour, bus but they say and do nothing.
Of course 2 of 6 in our group contracted Covid.
Viking had a obligation to do everything within their control to protect us as best possible. In this instance they didn’t even try.
Not trying to trash Viking, just being truthful.

Avanti Destinations is a HORRIBLE and dishonest company. Paul Barry(who is sole owner) along wtih executive team of COO Mark Grundy, CMO John Hanratty and CFO Susan Marra should be ashamed on how they run a company. As a military family we booked our trip to London to leave March 21, 2020. This was to be our FAMILY trip overseas. While C19 is not the fault of Avanti, it is Barry who is at fault. While other airlines and travel agencies are giving a 100% REFUND not just vouchers Avanti is holding our money hostage. Trying to work with anyone associated with this company does not response. How can USTOA stand behind this company? How do we get a FULL REFUND from Avanti? My travel agent sent us information and our of almost $7000.00 we would get back $1700.00. Seriously? We are PCSing to another country in Asia and want to travel. What is Avanti decides to file bankruptcy because Barry does not know how to manage clients money. SOMEONE HELP US!!!

I would love to write a review about our meticulously planned out trip, but as our $12000 week long trip to London and Dublin was cancelled due to a global pandemic, I cannot. This company has made it not just hard but nearly impossible to help out their customers who are in awful situations during this time. They are completely unwilling to budge on their bottom line even a little.

We had to cancel due to boarder/country closings and this company is trying to keep 100% of our money. We were booked to fly with British Airlines, and BA refunded $700 per person and that is all that this company has given us.

If by some miracle we get a representative on the phone they are condescending and degrading. I even spoke with the VP of the company and he was the worst. He made me feel small and unimportant. This whole company is taking advantage of the situation and unless people get lawyers involved they are completely unwilling to refund any money.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! If something goes wrong on your trip, which let face it, multi country trips often have at least one thing go wrong, this company will NOT HELP! Do yourself a favor and go with someone else who has much better customer service and company values.

Our tour Guide Jane was the best .. she gave us a really good experience she was fun and made my overall experience fantastic , I have a gluten intolerance and she helped me pick food that I could eat and couldn't have done it without her! was great traveling with her

The tour was very comprehensive, I loved that it had so many included activities and food.

The locations were lovely and our guide Akemi Nozawa was excellent. We enjoyed the company of our fellow travellers and tried lots of different food.

Our guide, Akemi provided thoughtful and efficient care, all details covered to ensure the smoothest transitions and attention to the individual interests of each member of the group. The group was exceptional. All members of the group participated enthusiastically and enjoyed each others company.

I gave this score because Fernando Maspes, our guide, organised everything beautifully. He covered not only local food and customs but history, architecture,and arts and crafts. He was charming and very well informed. Most of all he was very good company. Taxis arrived when they should, hotels were clean and comfortable and the range of food experiences comprehensive.

Small groups, flexibility, sense of adventure and variety of offerings.

The tour was well planned, provided great variety and taught us a lot about the country

Our tour leader was very informative, solved problems very quickly, gave excellent advice, always available and was friendly to all.

Nestor was an excellent tour guide, he was knowledgeable about every place we visited, including the history, food and customs of each area. Nestor was helpful, offering advice on local restaurants and tours, I really couldn't have asked for a better trip - especially for my first time our of the US.

Fantastic trip, great guide. I would have liked more time in Tel Aviv and Haifa.

Great tour- all must see sites, helpful fun guide, great hotel locations and the included meals makes finding and trying food and meal times easy.

Khoa was an excellent guide. He was on top of everything all the time, dealing with minor problems and larger ones with ease and a good sense of humor and always concerned that we were happy and having a good time. Also I loved the wide variety of experiences, motorbike rides, bicycles, kayaks, boat stays, home stays, train rides - the list is endless.